Eid of the New Sun (Eid al Shams Gadeed)
It is the middle of winter, and the sun is at its weakest in the northern hemisphere, however vast it is in the heavens; ice and hoarfrost have the northern lands in their dread grip, covering the land and driving all but the hardiest creatures south. Here on the southern coast, winter is certainly less severe, but there are ocean storms to hammer the shores, the air has grown noticeably chill, and rains swell the streams of the Gana River and her tributaries.
Days have been waning in length, and the shortest day, the winter solstice, comes at the end of the year, when the sun seems at its weakest. The day after this, with the lengthening of days again, marks the beginning of a new solar year. So it is on the solstice that the Eid of the New Sun begins, and continues through the next few days to celebrate the coming of the new sun and the new year.
This is a time of high sacrifice of grave importance. This is the time of the king-priests, the Priests minal Muluk, who maintain the last true remnant of Tsurrian royalty, having of old given over their rulership duties in order to focus only on certain proper sacrifices. The former high priest of these, Kayl minal Muluk, died two lunar years ago, and so this will be the first Eid presided over by the new high priest, Kathir minal Muluk.
At the shrine of the king-priests, the Souffets will present seven perfect hmelus, either black or white, at least two donated specifically by the Souffets while other great houses vie to provide the remaining five. The king-priests will then take the victim-animals up the steps to the top of the shrine where they will offer them as kourbaneia to the sun, slitting the victim’s throats and letting the blood flow across the altar and then down runnels on either side of the steps to a channel at the base of the shrine. There, lesser priests will splash the fresh blood over the Souffets and their gathered entourage, while above Kathir minal Muluk will divide the animals, casting the heads down the stairs, taking a third of each animal for the shrine, giving a third of the animals away to the poor, and delivering the remaining third back to the Souffets for a feast in their palace, and burning the entrails for the further strengthening of the sun.
The Souffets return to their own palaces blood-smeared, and have hmelus from their own herds sacrificed in imitation of the rites of the king-priests, the beasts roasted on spits over the fires and a great feast held within their halls. The blood of the hmelus is painted over the great doors of the palace and sprinkled over the guests of the feast, and the poor of the city come to the gates to receive a portion of the meat of the sacrifices.
All around the city, lesser versions of this sacrifice will be taking place, in large public plazas where many families gather together to slaughter hmelus (and many families will have saved up their fals in order to purchase as good a hmelu as they can). Great bonfires in the public spaces are set up for the burning of entrails and fat and bones, all to send the nourishment of the feast to the sun. Meanwhile, the blood of these sacrifices will be painted over the doors of houses, and splashed over hands and faces, and traditionally the meat of all these animals is divided similarly to the king-priests’ kourbaneia, so that everyone in the city will have plenty to eat for the next few days of feasting.
The reason for these sacrifices is threefold. Chiefly, the great fires burn the entrails and send the nourishment of the feasts as smoke to the sun above, to help its renewal on this, the shortest of days. Secondly, the sacrifices also allow everyone in the city to eat during this part of the winter, when the poorest might have the least. But the blood that is spilled--and painted over doorways--is another important reason for the sacrifices. For it is this blood that distracts the demons of the Bayt al Aswad, "the Black House", and most especially the great Devourer, who would otherwise overwhelm the sun, and after that, devour everything. But with all the blood flowing on the earth below, the Devourer will drink it down and become drunk on it, and thus turn away from the sun when it is at its weakest; and having done so, will lose another chance to devour the sun. So the sacrifices are an important ritual in keeping the world safe from the evils of the Devourer.
There is also an ancient memory of human sacrifice that took place during this time--a memory perhaps older than even Old Tsurr. There are perhaps cults or sects elsewhere in other cities that still practice that terrible ritual, but there have never been public rites of human sacrifice Cothon-Gadeed, and so it shall hopefully remain.
For Player-Characters:
It would be a simple enough thing for the barbarian-adventurers of Cothon to spend 3 or 4 gold dinars on a fine hmelu and have it sacrificed and butchered, thus to take part in the feasting; but if they wish, those with means may spend quite extravagantly to make their feasting wonderful, and as the feast continues for several days after the sacrifice, there is ample time to spend thusly.
This is also a time of charity for those who have less--the third of the meat given to the poor, for instance--and so charitable giving of other kind, of alms, perhaps, are also looked at favorably in this time.
Therefore, player-characters who wish to partake in this time of sacrifice and feasting may spend up to 100 gold per level, with a short description of what their gold is buying--or where or how it is being donated--and earn that amount of experience. This does not require the use of a downtime roll, as the entire cities are celebrating this great ceremony, and it would be quite easy to join in the feasting.
For example: Najm ibn Marwan will spend 700 dinars to purchase a pair of hmelus for his ship and Confraternity of Saint Iskameen, as well as paying for a good selection of wines, and good flatbreads and a pottage of fish and root vegetables to accompany the roasted hmelu. Blood will be painted on the mast, the bow, and keel, and a third of the hmelu meat will be sent to Fahra's Hole-in-the-Wall to be distributed to the poor from there. In doing this, Najm receives 700 xp.
Please post actions in the comments below, or in the downtime section of our Discord channel.
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